Boxing
Usyk vs Wilder: A Clash That Could Redefine Boxings 140-Year Lineal Heavyweight Championship
Published
1 month agoon
Heavyweight boxing’s lineal championship has survived for more than 140 years, but Oleksandr Usyk’s proposed farewell against Deontay Wilder could leave the historic title facing something more permanent than another vacancy.
From John L. Sullivan through Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Tyson Fury and Usyk, World Boxing News recognizes 40 men as having occupied the position regarded as heavyweight boxing’s ultimate crown.
The principle has always been simple. Beat the man who beat the man and the championship changes hands.
Usyk has vacated his sanctioning body titles and wants Wilder for what he has described as the final fight of his career. If Wilder wins, there is no argument under the traditional lineal principle. He beats the man and becomes the man.
If Usyk wins and retires, boxing could be left trying to rebuild a lineage in a heavyweight division entering an entirely different championship era.
Usyk-Wilder Could Be the End
WBN recently outlined how Wilder could remarkably finish his career as lineal heavyweight champion after appearing close to the end following his brutal knockout defeat to Zhilei Zhang in 2024.
The former WBC champion has never held the lineal crown despite three previous opportunities against Fury. Wilder would become the 41st heavyweight recognized by WBN within a lineage stretching back to Sullivan in 1885.
One right hand against Usyk could change that. A Ukrainian victory creates the more complicated scenario.
Retirements have interrupted the lineage before, but heavyweight boxing has eventually found a way to establish another recognized number one.
This time could be different.
Zuffa Boxing intends to crown its own heavyweight champion, which could even be the Usyk vs Wilder fightand has indicated a willingness to work with boxing’s established sanctioning bodies in some cases. That potentially adds another heavyweight title alongside the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO championships.
The Ring further complicates the picture.

Can Boxing Create Another Lineal Champion?
The Ring championship has increasingly become associated with the lineal concept because its heavyweight champion is generally regarded as the division’s leading fighter.
Usyk leaves little room for argument. He defeated Anthony Joshua twice, beat Fury twice and remains unbeaten as a professional.
But what happens after he leaves?
What happens if The Ring heavyweight championship remains within Zuffa while another fighter outside the promotion unifies the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO titles? Which fighter would then be recognized as the man capable of restoring the lineal championship?
The lineal championship cannot simply be handed to whoever holds the most belts. Somebody has to establish themselves as the man.
But who gets that recognition if The Ring and the sanctioning bodies recognize two different heavyweight champions for the foreseeable future?
The lineal championship could almost certainly cease to exist as we now know it.
Boxing has solved that problem before.
Following Lewis’s retirement, The Ring crowned Vitali Klitschko heavyweight champion after his victory over Corrie Sanders in 2004, with WBN recognizing Klitschko as the beginning of a new lineage. Wladimir Klitschko later became the division’s dominant champion before Fury defeated him in 2015.
Fury’s victory eventually led to Usyk, who defeated him twice in 2024.
That lineage now rests with Usyk.

A 140-Year Championship Facing Extinction
The lineal title has never required a sanctioning fee, mandatory challenger or physical belt. It exists because one fighter is recognized as the man at the top of the heavyweight division.
Not everybody has accepted that concept.
Eddie Hearn dismissed it when Fury’s status was being debated in 2018.
“The lineal championship doesn’t actually exist,” Hearn said. “It’s a mythical title that people want to use when they don’t have any belts.”
WBN reported Hearn’s argument at the timebut has continued recognizing and documenting heavyweight boxing’s lineage.
Forty men and more than 140 years provide the history behind that position.
The concern after Usyk is whether an increasingly divided sport will still be capable of producing one heavyweight champion widely recognized above all the others.
If Wilder wins, the problem disappears for now. He beats Usyk and takes the lineage with him.
If Usyk wins, retires and boxing’s competing championship structures continue separating the heavyweight division, the lineal crown could become more than vacant.
It could become extinct.
And if nobody can agree who is entitled to bring it back, whether it’s Zuffa, The Ring or the other sanctioning bodies, Hearn’s old argument may finally have its day.
But once it’s gone, did it really exist anyway?
About the Author
Phil Jay is the Editor-in-Chief of World Boxing News (WBN), a BWAA-acknowledged boxing news website founded in 2010. A veteran boxing reporter with 16 years of experience, he has interviewed world champions, broken international exclusives, and reported ringside from major events. His work is published worldwide through WBN and distributed on platforms including Apple News.
Read Phil Jay’s full bio and latest stories.
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Boxing
Dana Whites Vision: Who Fits Zuffa Between Benavidez and Tank?
Published
50 minutes agoon
September 23, 2026
Dana White would like to work with David Benavidez and Gervonta Davis. Both names would draw attention to Zuffa Boxing. Benavidez offers a clearer path to the kind of regular, high-stakes fights White says he wants to deliver.
“I’m a big Tank fan. I love Tank,” White said on Cigar Talk. “I love Benavidez. There’s guys out there that I personally like and I’m a fan of that I would like to work with.” The interview was recorded before Ryan Garcia fought Conor Benn, but White’s interest in the two fighters is worth examining.
Zuffa already has Jai Opetaia. Benavidez wants to fight him, Opetaia wants the same, and White has said Zuffa is “very interested” in Benavidez. If Benavidez gets through his proposed December fight with Michal Cieslak, White would have a major cruiserweight bout to pursue within his own operation.
Benavidez has also been reported to have one fight remaining on his agreement with Sampson Lewkowicz and PBC. The terms are not public, so his availability after Cieslak cannot be treated as settled. It is enough to make Zuffa’s interest timely.
The appeal goes beyond one opponent. Benavidez’s pressure, combinations, and body work give Zuffa an action fighter to put before its Paramount+ audience. Opetaia might beat him; a later move to heavyweight might reveal that Benavidez is less imposing against naturally bigger men. Those are risks a promoter can build compelling fights around.
Tank gives White another obvious in-house matchup: Shakur Stevenson. His counterpunching and knockout power can turn a quiet round into a finish, and Tank–Shakur would attract attention well beyond Zuffa’s regular audience. White agreed during the interview that it is a fight fans want.
The trouble is getting a date. Tank fought Frank Martin in June 2024, drew with Lamont Roach in March 2025, and has not boxed since. A star who appears once and then disappears for another year does little to fill a streaming service’s fight calendar. Zuffa’s Paramount agreement began with a slate of 12 cards and plans to grow from there. Consistent appearances have value in that setup.
White may pursue both. Benavidez gives him an active route toward Opetaia, with real danger attached. Tank gives him a potentially enormous Shakur fight. Before paying for Tank’s name, Zuffa would need to know when he intends to use it.
About the author
Boxing 24/7 Wire
Boxing247.com is an independent boxing news publication covering the sport since 2001. It provides original reporting, fight analysis, schedules, results, and informed coverage of major fighters and events worldwide, backed by more than 25 years of professional boxing journalism.
Boxing
Roy Jones Jr Declares New KO Artist the Next Canelo: Fans Eager for Fight
Published
9 hours agoon
September 23, 2026
Roy Jones Jr has named one fighter as the “new Canelo” and, by extension, considers them to be the ‘face of boxing’.
Some might argue that Canelo Alvarez remains boxing’s biggest commercial star but, with the 36-year-old approaching retirement, the sport is surely crying out for another mainstream attraction to take his place.
It is also unusual for the four-division world champion that, by the end of this year, he will not have fought on Cinco de Mayo or Mexican Independence Day weekend.
Instead, occupying the latter date earlier this month was Ryan Garciawho retained his WBC world title with a second-round stoppage of Conor Benn, taking his record to 21 knockouts from 26 victories, with just two defeats.
In doing so, the 28-year-old has kept himself in the mix for unification matches with Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney but, until such fights materialise, he seems eager to remain active and defend his welterweight belt.
As far as a next opponent goes, Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz has been mentioned as a possible option following his emphatic sixth-round knockout of Nestor Bravo last weekendand it seems that pound-for-pound legend Jones would enjoy that clash.
That is because Jones has told All The Smoke Boxing that Garcia-Cruz is a stylistically similar matchup to Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier.
“Ryan is the new Canelo – everybody wants to see Ryan.
“[Cruz] has the style – the perfect style – that you want to see against Ryan. Ryan’s a classic boxer-puncher; Pitbull is a brawler-puncher. That’s Ali and Frazier, almost.
“Who would not, on planet Earth, want to see that fight?”
“Ryan is the new Canelo!”
Roy makes the case for Pitbull Cruz vs Ryan Garcia being one of the most exciting fights to make in boxing 🎟️👊 pic.twitter.com/PWVwO68sTj
— ALL THE SMOKE Boxing (@atsboxing) September 22, 2026
While Cruz is, indeed, a tenacious brawler-puncher, the 5ft 4in super-lightweight would be contending with a glaring size disadvantage if he moves up to 147lbs and faces Garcia.
Boxing
Heavyweight Brothers Aim to Dominate Boxing Like the Klitschkos
Published
10 hours agoon
September 23, 2026
A pair of German prospects hope to follow in the footsteps of Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, who became the first brothers to simultaneously reign as world heavyweight champions.
The two highly-decorated Ukrainians achieved this feat between 2008 and 2013, after Vitali reclaimed his WBC title by dethroning Samuel Peter with an eighth-round finish.
‘Dr. Ironfist’ would then retire from the sport and pursue his political career, while Wladimir became the longest-reigning world heavyweight champion in history before losing to Tyson Fury in 2015.
While holding all four major titles between them, though, the Klitschko brothers established themselves as a dominant force and became mainstream celebrities in Germany.
Since then, the German boxing scene has struggled to generate such widespread attention but, now, over a decade later, Ismet Ademi (24) and Endrit Ademi (21) are bidding to emulate the Klitschko duo.
With seven national titles between them, the pair turned professional earlier this year and caught the eye of several promoters in the UK and US.
It can now be revealed, however, that the Ademi brothers have inked multi-year deals with Ringside Zone, who considers itself the leading boxing promotional outfit in Germany.
With Ismet returning to action on October 10, the 1-0 (1 KO) prospect explained that he and younger brother Endrit, 2-0 (2 KOs), would rather establish themselves on home soil than chase opportunities overseas.
“My brother and I had massive offers from abroad, but Germany is our home and this is where we want to build our legacy.
“Ringside Zone has already shown they can put German fighters in world title fights, and that mattered to us. We made a promise to each other years ago that we would become world champions together – signing here is another step toward keeping it.”
With lofty plans for the future, the Ademi brothers make for intriguing additions to the heavyweight scene as they aim to eventually reach world level and reach the heights that the Klitschko brothers once did.
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